This application claims priority to GB Application No. 9905968.5 filed Mar. 16, 1999.
The invention which is the subject of this application relates to a format for the display on a television or monitor screen to represent information to the user of the screen relating to material which is to be displayed on the said screen. In particular, but not necessarily exclusively, the invention relates to the generation of a display for use as part of an electronic programs guide to the user which indicates to the user the various options of programs which can be watched at that time and/or in the future on the various channels and/or broadcast services available to the user.
The provision of electronic program guide (EPG) information to a user of a display screen linked to broadcast data receiving apparatus is well known. The data for the EPG is typically generated from data which is broadcast from a remote location and relates to the various channels and programs which are available or selection by the user of the apparatus. The data for the EPG is broadcast and transmitted along with the video, audio and/or text data to broadcast data receiving apparatus located in premises and which apparatus is connected to displays. The data transmission can be by satellite, cable or terrestrial network systems.
As the proliferation of available channels and programs which can be selected increases so there is a need to display this information to the user but, as the number of channels and programs which are available to the user increase so it becomes increasingly difficult to either show information for a relatively large time interval and/or show all of the program channels on the screen at any one time.
The aim of the present invention is to provide for the generation of and a display to a user which represents in an easily distinguishable and interpretable manner, information relating to programs which can be viewed at that time or in the future. It is a further aim of the invention to provide a display which can be generated to display functions other than programs such as for example volume settings, contrast or brightness settings on the functions of the television set and/or signal receiver.
In a first aspect of the invention there is provided a process for generating a display for viewing on a display screen, said display generated by broadcast data receiving apparatus provided in connection with the display screen and said display including information generated from any, or any combination of data held in the memory of the apparatus and/or data broadcast to the apparatus from a remote location, and indicating program information relating to a program channel and characterised in that said display includes a geometrical shape split into a plurality of segments.
The invention therefore provides a display which is generated for viewing on a display screen by broadcast data receiving apparatus, said display indicating any or any combination of a function of the display screen control parameters and/or information relating to channels and/or programs which can be viewed on the screen and wherein said display comprises a geometrical shape split into a plurality of segments.
Typically the segments converge at a common point on the display and diverge outwardly therefrom.
In one embodiment each geometrical shape represents a particular time interval on one program channel and the segments of said geometrical shape are selected to represent program which occur on that channel during the particular time interval. The size of the segment indicates the length of the particular program and hence each of the programs in that time interval so that the user has an immediate indication of the programs available to watch on the channel represented by the geometrical shape and over the time represented by the geometrical shape.
In one embodiment, a plurality of geometrical shapes can be generated either at the same time on the display screen to represent the program available to watch on some or all of the available channels on the same screen or alternatively, individual geometrical shapes can be provided in sequence for display to the user and controlled by the user using display control means such as a conventional remote control device so that the same can be xe2x80x9cflicked throughxe2x80x9d by the user.
In one embodiment, the segments can be colored or provided of differing colors or patterns to distinguish the same. In one embodiment the segments can be color coded so as to further indicate to the user, who can access the key to the coding, the subject matter of the programs in question so that certain areas of interest such as nature, sport etc, can be represented by specified colors and the data which allows the appropriate colors or patterns to be input is broadcast along with the program data to the broadcast data receiving apparatus which then separates the data and generates the appropriate segment color or pattern.
It is envisaged that in a typical embodiment the broadcast data receiving apparatus will have in memory data which controls the generation of the shape and the generation of segments of the shape. However the actual configuration of the segments within the shape is determined by data received from the broadcaster. This data can include program start and end times, locates the program data on a particular channel, can include information relating to the program subject matter and so on. When this data is received and the user selects to vies the program information the geometrical shape is generated and the positioning of the segments determined with respect to the received data and the program which can be viewed on the channel represented by the shape and over the time interval represented.
In a yet further embodiment of the invention, as time progresses there can be progressive shading, movement of the display or portions of the display, or otherwise altering the geometrical shape of the display to indicate the passage of time through the time interval displayed on the geometrical shape if the geometrical shape is indicating presently available programs.
In a further aspect of the invention there is provided a process for generating a display for viewing on a display screen, said display generated by broadcast data receiving apparatus provided in connection with the display screen and said display including information generated from data relating to the display screen and broadcast data receiving apparatus and representing a function of operation of the display screen or broadcast data receiving apparatus and characterized in that said display includes a geometrical shape split into a plurality of segments.
In one embodiment the shape represents a range of volume and a change in appearance of the shape or segments indicates the volume level selected.
Typically a plurality of geometric shapes, in combination, represent the range of volume.
Thus, in this embodiment, the geometrical shape can still be split into a series of segments and indications which can be representative of a function or functions of the operation of the display are provided such as the display of a television set, such that for example the geometric shapes may indicate the range of volume which is possible by a series of segments and the selection of a particular volume level is indicated by a change in appearance of segments from zero to the particular volume level selected.
In either embodiment it is envisioned that the geometric shape best suited would be a circle but the invention can equally be applied in triangles, squares, rectangles, hexagonal shapes, ellipses, semi-circles.